WEW Legacy Award
The WEW Legacy Award is a premier wrestling accolade that was originated as recognition for past achievements in wrestling excellence. The award was initially bestowed upon one male and one female, both of which were inactive in-ring at the time of the award being given. The core concept of the award shifted in 2015 during WEW's final year. At the finale pay-per-view event, Legacy: Japan, the Legacy Award was put up for grabs in a match full of WEW veterans. In 2019, post-closure of World Elite Wrestling, a new WEW Legacy Awards recipients' list was updated to include one past Elitist, Starlet, and the first-ever award to a tag team and a non-wrestling recipient. WEW Legacy Award Recipients *'Jaxson Baxter (2012)' Baxter is a former WEW Champion and notorious fan favorite during his time in World Elite Wrestling. However, while competing full-time, Baxter had an early hand in developing and designing several of the original WEW Championship template designs, including the original & final WEW Championship, the final WEW Starlets Championship, the original WEW Titan Championship, the final WEW Universal Championship, and the final WEW Tag Team Championships. For his noteworthy in-ring ability and his huge helping hand behind the scenes, WEW awarded Baxter with the inaugural male WEW Legacy Award in 2012. A joint ceremony was held for the inaugural award recipients to highlight their in-and-out of ring achievements. *'Priscilla Oliveira (2012)' Oliveira is a former on-screen character, majorly acting in villainous management roles, while in World Elite Wrestling. Most notably, Oliveira was a former ''Animosity'''' general manager and sparked a memorable feud in the shows early history against WEW Elitist SM Raye. She later served as a valet for the popular tag team duo and then WEW Tag Team Champions The Hellcats during their widely publicized "Barbie" storyline, which ultimately saw Oliveira regain her summit position as Animosity GM. Behind the scenes, however, Oliveira actually controlled half of the creative control of World Elite Wrestling as 50% co-owner with the founder, Alakai Burke. For her huge part in WEW's early programming and her dedication as a controlling owner in WEW's management, Oliveira was announced as the inaugural female WEW Legacy Award recipient in 2012. A joint ceremony was held for the inaugural award recipients to highlight their in-and-out of ring achievements. *'Calvin Harris (2015)' Harris is a former Elitist working under the [[Friday Night Adrenaline|''Friday Night Adrenaline]]'' brand during his entire tenure with World Elite Wrestling. Harris carved out a signature name for himself while apart of the ''Adrenaline brand, but failed to capture any championships under either show banner. Despite this, he headlined several major feuds on his brand against the likes of Ryan Jackson, Shady Layne, and management characters: Haylee Beaulieu & Nathan Parker. For his rivalry with Ryan Jackson, Harris won the 2013 WEW Awards for Feud of the Year and Match of the Year. After his seveal career-defining rivalries, Harris was named as the only "Honorable Mention" for the Top 10 Greatest Elitists Ever published by WEW. In 2015, at the finale WEW Legacy event, Japan, it was revealed that Harris would take part of a veteran-filled Ladder Match to determine the next recipient of the WEW Legacy Award. Harris' work ehtic proved consistent in the end and he was able to ascend the ladder and snag a blank plaque to later be engraved with his achievement in pro wrestling history. *[[Shady Layne|'Shady Layne']] (2019) Shady Layne was a former WEW Starlet, known for her stint on the ''Friday Night Adrenaline'''' brand, most notoriously as its dominant WEW World Champion. The rookie Starlet barely missed out on being named the Rising Star of 2012, but quickly made up for it by securing her first WEW World Championship reign in early 2013 and not relinquishing the belt until mid-2013 due to a legitimate concussion following an angle with her fierce rival, Rhiannon. Despite the setback, Layne returned at the end of the year and regained the belt from her foe while racking up two end of the year awards, including the coveted Superstar of the Year. Layne would proceed to have a banner unstoppable year all throughout 2014 by defeating any challenger for her title, remaining undefeated, and easily picking up the helm of 2014's Superstar of the Year; this feat has since set the benchmark for Layne as the only repeat winner for the award and winning in conseuctive years as well. That same year, Layne was honored as the #3 listed "Greatest Starlet Ever" by WEW. Layne is also recognized as the first female WEW World Champion and remains the record longest singles title run as well as the longest combined reigns for any title in WEW history. At the WEW Awards, Layne is additionally the only champion to have ever won Champion of the Year twice, and back-to-back. In 2018, it was announced that Layne had unfortunately passed away. In 2019, WEW News media released a final list of WEW Legacy Award recipients. For her notable and lengthy history with the company, career-defining rivalries, history-making main event matches, four WEW Awards, and three WEW World Championship reigns, Shady Layne became the first posthumous recipient of a WEW Legacy Award and also set a posthumous record as the first traditional in-ring Starlet to receive the honor. *'Vantage (2019)' Vantage is a former WEW Elitist known mostly as an extremely popular underdog wrestler mainly appearing on the [[Monday Night Animosity|''Monday Night Animosity]]'' brand during his stint with the company. The Superstar was named 2011's Rookie of the Year and was a breakout success story, becoming a two-time WEW Universal Champion and the 2012 Elitist of the Year after his award-nominated feud against Alistar Bane. For the next year, Vantage attempted but failed to capture the elusive first world championship reign he'd so desired on several ocassions. It wasn't until 2014, after winning the third annual 30-Person Retribution Rumble that Vantage finally reached the summit of the WEW roster at the flagship WEW pay-per-view event, Legacy: Jamaica by winning the WEW Championship for his first time in his first main event on the pay-per-view. That same year, Vantage was honored as the #3 listed "Greatest Elitist Ever" by WEW. Vantage's final in-ring match with the company was at the finale Legacy: Japan show, where he unsucessfully challenged for the Undisputed WEW Universal Titan Championship. In 2019, WEW News media released a final list of WEW Legacy Award recipients. For his six WEW Award wins, several pay-per-view main events, notorious feuds, notable history as a fan favorite within the company, and three championship reigns, Vantage was recognized as the newest Elitist inductee alongside Jaxson Baxter and Calvin Harris as a WEW Legacy Award recipient. *'Jayceon Taylor (2019)' Taylor is a former on-screen character, majorly acting in a management role as the General Manager of [[Monday Night Animosity|''Monday Night Animosity]]. ''Taylor received the opportunity in 2012 following the kayfabe firing of then-GM Priscilla Oliveira. Taylor quickly rose through the ranks as a prominent face in WEW programming and, contrary to the time period, a consistent General Manager for his brand. These successes led him to back-to-back nominations in 2012 & 2013 for the WEW Award for Staffer of the Year, though losing both to respective ''Adrenaline General Managers, Nathan Parker & Haylee Beaulieu. In 2014, Taylor entered his first wrestling storyline after a rumored affair between himself & Hannah Walters caused his then-off screen girlfriend Sayge Jemson to turn villainous. The former and latter feuded while Taylor was bombarded with a debuting Deucalion, a new Elitist managed by Jemson with the intention of ending Jayceon Taylor's career. The feud gained end of the year recognition as a nominee for Feud of the Year and Match of the Year. In 2019, WEW News media released a final list of WEW Legacy Award recipients. For his three year tenure with the company, his management role over the Animosity brand, and in-ring competition, Jayceon Taylor was recognized as the newest WEW Legacy Award recipient. This award induction makes him the second former management character, behind Priscilla Oliveira, and first male management character recipient of the Legacy award. *'The Hellcats (2019)' The Hellcats are a defunct villainous tag team duo, comprised of former WEW Starlets Zharya Burke & Shauvon. The duo debuted as a tag team in World Elite Wrestling and quickly rose to the top of the tag team division, winning an Open Invitational to become the inaugural WEW Tag Team Champions. The Hellcats set several records both as champions; they were the first champions in WEW history to cross the 200-day threshold as champion and were also undefeated in title defenses for the duration of their championship reign, a feat that would not be accomplished again until the final champions to hold the titles. However, The Hellcats remain the only champions in WEW history to relinquish their championships not due to release, changing brands, retirement, title deactivation, or injury, thus recognizing them as the only undefeated champions. For their achievements, they were crowned the inaugural 2011 Tag Team of the Year at the WEW Awards. Furthermore, the duo was known for their highly publicized "Barbie Movement" storyline which prominently featured another popular Starlet, Hannah Walters. Their feud garnered Feud of the Year nominations. After their disbandment, both Shauvon & Zharya remained signed to the company until its closure in 2015, Shauvon acting as a valet for husband Ryan Jackson and Burke retaining several various management roles. In 2019, WEW News media released a final list of WEW Legacy Award recipients. For their record-achievements as a tag team, The Hellcats were recognized as the newest honorees of the WEW Legacy Award. This induction marks the first time a tag team has ever received the WEW Legacy Award honor. WEW Legacy Award Match Results Below are the results for any matches where a prestigious WEW Legacy Award was on the line. In 2015, the only recorded match happened for the Legacy Award and it happened at the finale WEW Legacy pay-per-view event, Japan. The winner of the match received an official WEW Legacy-engraved plaque and the accolade recognized alongside their fellow recipients for a major achievement in wrestling excellence. Category:Award Category:Accolade Category:WEW Achievement Category:WEW Accomplishment